Nunchaku (Male)
by CameoAmalthea
Summary: Rich, young, and beautiful Asher had everything he could possibly want. Except all he really wanted was to be a Turk. He didn't seem the type, his features were soft and feminine, his personality was warm and cheerful. He wanted to stand up for himself, to discover life on his own terms. He just hoped that those were all right things to put on a resume. Did the Turks take resumes?


Asher wasn't like the rest of the Turks or most of them anyway.

Sometimes it seemed like the Turks had been culled from the ranks of a group home for wayward youth. They all had different backgrounds and different stories, but the common theme for them all was dark and troubled pasts.

It sometimes seemed like nobody joined the Turks because they wanted to. Veld, Commander and head of the department, just found them. In many cases he gave them the best, or only, shot they could possibly have in life. It wasn't true for everyone, Rosalind joined straight out of Shinra Military Academy, which was probably why she was so formal all the time, but for the most part the rule seemed to be that nobody joined the Turks voluntarily, either they hunted you down, or you didn't get it. Even _Xero_ had been scouted after earning a reputation as an outstanding marksman while on safari with her father.

Sometimes he wondered if he was the _only_ Turk who actually applied for the job. On his cover letter he'd said he wanted to stand up for himself, to discover life on his own terms…It was a wonder his resume wasn't shredded on the spot or taped it up for everyone to have a laugh at...he could imagine Reno doing that.

Maybe Veld _had_ only hired Asher as a sort of joke, see how long the spoiled rich kid lasts before he goes crying home to mommy, or maybe it was because they'd needed to hire more people and there weren't that many applicants. Either way, the important thing was Veld had given him a shot!

* * *

His first day on the job, Asher was all but bouncing with excitement.

Asher had followed Veld down the hall speaking a mile a minute. "I'm so thrilled to have this opportunity. Really, I can't thank you enough, I mean it. You don't know how long I've admired the Turks, and now I'll have a chance to be a Turk and work with Turks and—"

Veld had given him a look that would have scared most people into silence, but although Asher got the hint he continued to speak enough to say.

"Sorry, sir, I'm just really happy."

"You might not be once training starts," said Veld.

A man with bright red hair leaned casually against the wall, but stood at attention when Veld approached. Veld put a hand on his shoulder, and continued speaking. "Reno here's going to put you through your paces. You mentioned you've had combat training?"

"Yup," chirped Asher, "I learned to use nunchaku under a private instructor."

"Right then, Reno, no need to go easy on him," said Veld, "but try not to kill him. Getting rid of his body would mean a lot of paper work."

Asher laughed, but Reno only smirked. Veld _was_ joking right? Maybe not…in the real world people would be trying to kill him, maybe training was meant to be a sort of trial by fire?

Well, all the more reason to do his best, he supposed. He offered Reno his hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir," he said, "thanks for training with me. It's an honor, really, I'm a huge fan."

Reno looked a bit taken aback by his continued enthusiasm before chuckling. "You're funny," he said. "Now come on, I want to see how long you last."

By the end of the fight Asher lay bruised and broken on the training mat.

Reno offered him a hand and said, "You lasted a lot longer than I expected, Sunshine."

At the moment, Asher couldn't help but smile despite the pain. After curing him, Reno asked if he wanted to grab drinks after work with some of the guys.

Despite any misgivings Veld might have had about him, Asher excelled at training and put just as much of his heart into it as any applicant. All his life anything he could think to want had been handed to him a silver platter, this was the first time Asher felt like he could really earn something. Here he had a chance to be more than just a pretty face and family name.

* * *

The rest of the Turks warmed up to him just as quickly as Reno. Asher had always made friends easily in school or at company functions with his parents. Eager to talk and happy to listen he could make conversation with just about anyone. If anything gave his fellow Turks pause it was how optimistic he seemed, it didn't seem natural for a Turk to be that bright. Still, as strange as Asher's attitude might be none of them seemed to mind it.

He'd once overheard Cissnei talking about him with Xero. "He's like one of those therapy dogs, you know. The ones you pet to make yourself feel better?"

"He is sort of like a puppy," she'd replied, "an affectionate, happy, overexcited pu—"

"Am I that overexcited?" he asked, interrupting their conversation. Both girls froze, but Asher gave them a reassuring smile. "I'm glad that having me around makes you feel better though." He proceeded to hug Cissnei before continuing on to get himself some coffee.

After that he'd begun to whistle to himself when he walked in the office, just to make sure he didn't interrupt private conversations accidently. This did nothing to deter nicknames like Sunshine but Asher honestly thought it cool that his coworkers liked him enough to give him a nickname.

* * *

It wasn't until he was given a mission as the Vice President's body double that his fellow Turks learned just how different he was from the rest of them. Rufus had come to the Turks floor to meet them before the mission, probably curious to see who'd Veld assigned.

"Asher?" asked Rufus, recognizing him immediately.

"Hey Rufus," he replied, "guess you're surprised to see me here?"

Danny looked up from his weekly issue of _Cycle Planet_ to regard the two of them. "You know each other?" he asked.

"We went to school together," said Rufus. His surprise had been replaced with what seemed a dry boredom. Asher made a mental note to not smile during the mission, grinning would definitely not help him pass as Rufus Shinra.

"Huh?" asked Danny. He set the magazine down on the desk, next to his EMR.

"Oh at The Shinra Elite Academy?" asked Xero conversationally. She grinned as she said the name.

"The what?" asked Zechariah. He'd just come from the weapon's locker and was holstering his twin pistols.

"The Shinra Elite Academy? It's only _the_ foremost boarding school on the continent, if not on the planet." She flipped her hair back as she continued. "Father sent me there all the way from Mideel. Everyone who's anyone goes there."

The silence that followed made it clear that the only ones who were _anyone_ in the room were Asher, Xero, and Rufus Shinra. Asher found a spot of the ground and stared at it for a moment before trying to change the subject.

"Well it's good to see you again, Rufus," he said, "you seem really calm for having a death threat and all. Seems pretty scary."

"You're awfully cheerful for being the one to take the bullet if it comes to that," Rufus retorted. "But really Asher, you will have to tell me how you ended up a Turk? His mother is heir to Aspani Piano Company, and isn't your father chief of Bone Village or something like that?"

"He's a paleontologist, he was in charge of a few digs and was elected Mayor for a couple of terms. It's uh…how my parents met. My mother wanted to halt the use of ivory in our company's pianos and substitute fossil ivory-"

"What does she have against ivory?" asked Xero. "There's nothing wrong with hunting."

Thankfully, the conversation had been cut short by Tseng reminding them that they needed to get a move on. Asher never thought he'd be relieved to go on a mission where his job was to be a moving target.

In the end Asher _was_ shot on the mission: a bullet in the arm and a few in the bulletproof vest he'd been wearing under the suit. Despite the pain in his arm, he was just glad it hadn't been a headshot, and best of all everyone came to see him in the infirmary afterwards. Apparently, the fact he had a pretty unusual background for a Turk didn't mean they'd stop liking him.

* * *

There were moments where he'd forget himself and be reminded just how lucky he'd had things. One snowy day about a year in to being a Turk he brought a tin full of cookies into the office to share. Asher knew Danny hated the snow, so he wanted to do something to cheer him up. When it turned out Danny was out on a mission he found Knives and offered some.

"Looks pretty fancy," she said, helping herself a cookie.

"My mom sent them," said Asher. "Since I won't be home for the holidays she's been sending care packages. What about you, are you going home?"

"No home to go to," she said, "my parents died when I was little, after that I was on my own."

Asher stopped himself from saying he was sorry. The last thing he wanted to do was make Knives think he felt sorry for her. "If you want I can tell my mom to send you cookies too," he offered.

She just laughed and shook her head.

"Well," he continued, "since we'll both be in town why don't we spend the holiday together."

"Like just the two of us?" she asked.

"Well…not if you don't want to. Maybe invite everyone from the office who isn't out of town or on missions? Do you think the Commander would come? Sometimes he looks so lonely."

Knives shrugged and went back to her work. "Maybe he prefers to be alone," she said, "but you can invite him if you want."

"So you're coming?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, "we can have roast chicken and make it like a something in a post card."

"We can shop for a cake together!" said Asher. It would be fun to go shopping. He loved the lights in Midgar normally, but during the holidays it was like a carnival. There was nothing better than crowds of happy people, twinkling lights and snow. It really was like something from a post card.

In the end it was just the two of them shopping for cakes. They stood outside the shop windows admiring the displays before going in. The winter air was brisk, and Knives was shivering. Asher offered her his coat along with a smile.

"It's ok," she said, "I'm used to being cold."

"That doesn't mean you have to be cold now," he said, draping the thick coat over her shoulders.

* * *

Three years into his time as a Turk they'd had a mission to Corel. Things hadn't gone as planned and now Asher was stuck in the bowels of the very unstable Corel Reactor surrounded by enemies. The answer was simple; he'd have to fight his way out…somehow…before everything exploded. Except there seemed to be a never-ending supply of people to fight, all of them willing to die fighting if it meant keeping him from escaping. He was beginning to think he wouldn't get out.

A throwing knife hit one of the terrorists in the neck and his assailant dropped. "Asher."

"Knives!" he called grinning despite the situation. He moved forward, knocking out another terrorist with several well placed swings of his weapon.

She shook her head. "Look at you," she said, "you ought be more careful. Now keep your voice down. You want to attract more company?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, "I'm just so happy to see you." He said. He might have kissed her if he weren't busy trying to keep from getting killed. They fought back to back, and then made a run for it as soon as they could.

"Come on," he urged, "let's hurry this whole place is going to explode."

A lot of running down hallways and few fights later the exit was in sight, just across the catwalk. He broke into a grin. They were going to make it. They were actually going to make it. It was clear shot across.

"The exit's just over there!" he called. They ran again and he could have laughed, riding the high of adrenaline.

"Ugh."

He barely had time to react to the sound before a falling body knocked him off his feet and clear over the railing of the catwalk. He heard Knives screaming his name.

The next time he saw her a lot of time had passed…years spent in a coma. He didn't know how often they'd visited him in his sleep or the things they'd said. Three years…so much time, but then again it only seemed fair that he got to have some share of bad luck.

Even if the first thing Reno said to him when he saw him again was: "You sure are lucky."

He couldn't disagree, really. Oh and he had to tell them about what happened after he'd fallen, how'd he gotten out of the reactor. The terrorists they'd been fighting...AVALANCHE. The rest of Turks had to know about Shears and Elfe, and what Fuhito was planning. Asher forced himself to breathe, he couldn't get too far ahead of himself. Calm: take things one at a time and everything would be all right.

* * *

**AN: This fic will probably make a lot more sense if you're familiar with Before Crisis. As it is it's sort of a vague character sketch. **

**Thanks to Clement Rage for the idea that "you don't seem to be able to join the Turks voluntarily. Either they hunt you down, or you don't get in" Because by and large that seems to be true and it made me wonder where that would leave someone like Nunchaku. **

**Thanks to RedCherryAmber for coming up with The Shinra Elite Academy and Aspani Pianos. (Check out her fic_ Somewhere in Midgar Two Children_)**

**Also, all hail DA of Gun Shot Romance and full credit to everyone responsible for the creation and translation of the game script on which some of this is based. **


End file.
